Activity Classification Feasibility Using Wearables: Considerations for Hip Fracture

Abstract

Falls in the elderly are a common health issue that can involve severe injuries like hip fractures, requiring considerable medical attention, and subsequent care. Following surgery, physiotherapy is essential for strengthening muscles, mobilizing joints and fostering the return to physical activities. Ideally, physiotherapy programmes would benefit from active home-based monitoring of the elderly patients’ daily activities and exercises. This paper aims at providing a preliminary analysis addressing three key research questions. First, what are the key involved activities (at-hospital, home exercises, and activities of daily living) during the post-operative hip fracture rehabilitation process? Second, how can one monitor and identify a range of leg exercises accurately? Last, what is the most suitable sensor location that can categorize the majority of the physical activities thought to be important during the rehabilitation programme? During preliminary testing, it was noted that a standard deviation of the acceleration signal was suitable for classification of static activities like sitting, whereas classification of the ambulatory activities like walking, both the frequency content and related amplitude of the acceleration signal, plays a significant role. The research findings suggest that the ankle is an appropriate location for monitoring most of the leg movement physical activities.